Bottle carrier



Oct. 3, 1944. E. Dr-:cHAR 2,359,539

' BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Jan. 1o; 1942 2 sheets-sheet 1 Oct. 3, 1944. E, DECHAR 2,359,539

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Jain. 10, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 3, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,359,539 BOTTLE CARRIER Edouard Dechar, New York, N. Y. Applicationjanuary v10, 1942,` serial No. 425,291

12 Claims.

tion. The soft drink industry has heretofore,

sought to provide an inexpensive carrier for a plurality of bottles containing the bottled beverage. Carriers* of the kind heretofore provided,l

however, have not'Y been entirely satisfactory for many reasons among 'whichare that, when filled with bottles, the carriers of the prior art have not'v readily lent'themselves tol stacking,y one upon the other: Moreover, because of their construction` their life time of use is relatively limited, particularly since they are not inherently ofta character durable enough for, repeated reuse.

Further, specialv handling machinery is required to fill these prior art carriers withlthe bottledA beverage.

In my co-pending application, Ser. No. 423,029; filed December 15, 1941; I have described a bottle carrier designed to replace the carriers ofthe prior art and which may-beused with conventional bottled soft drinks, the bottles of which have tapered neck portions, each of which neck portions may be provided with an annular collar thereabout.

My said prior co-pending application was concerned with a bottle carrier having two members, namely a supportl member, and a second member having openings each of which was designed to receive the neck of a bottle and which members were so connected', that upon lifting the carrier the two members thereof clamped the bottles between them.

VThe present invention is likewise concerned with the provision of a carrier for bottles of this kind and. which carrier is provided with a pair of relatively movable members which are secured together so that upon lifting the carrier the members are moved toward each other to securely grasp the bottles received therebetween, for example by the necks thereof, and to thereby clamp the bottles between the members of the carrier.

Bottled soft drinks are conventionally supplied to the retail vendor in cases which customarily have filled thereinv twenty-four bottles of the drink, the bottles being separately or indie.

essary for the bottler to use special machinery to pack the six bottles in the special carriers.

The'present inventionon the other hand is designedto permit the bottler to pack the bot- .A tles in cases containing twenty-four or any lesser or greater number thereof, as heretofore, while yet permitting the use of my bottle carrier without the requirement of special machinery, it being necessary only to arrange one of my carriers over the necks of each set of six bottles in the case, after they have been packed therein.

The carrier of the present invention is there'- fore designed so that ,it will inno way interfere with heretofore conventional lbottling'operations `and so that they may be relatively quickly and easily arrangedupon'thenecksof the bottles in the case. i

`Further, when soarranged'on the bottles, the carriers cooperate to constitute aplatform across the topof the case, which adds to the ability to stack one such case upon another.

In operation, each carrier need only be grasped by its handleto lift the selected number of bottles, the necks of which are gripped bythe carrier when the bottles are lifted thereby from thecase-in-which they have been packed or from any other support on which they` are positioned.

The presentl invention further contemplates the provision of such a bottle carrier which is*V comprisedof relatively few partsand which is comparatively ruggedly made so that it' will have a longer life, free from mechanical operatingupon lifting the carrier by the handle provided therein, are spontaneously moved toward one another to grip the bottles therebetween and which carrier is so designed that the bottles gripped therebetween are rigidly held so that they will not strikeagainst one another when carried.A

To enablethose skilled in the artV so fully to comprehend therunderlying features of ymy inventionV and otherV and further objects thereof so that they may embody the same in any modification in the structure and relative arrangement of the parts thereof contemplated by my invention, as a part of this disclosure, drawings depicting certain forms of my invention have been annexed hereto, in which drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a bottle carrier according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan viewv thereof.

Fig. ,3 is a .sectpn along theline 3 3 of Fig, 1,

' partially broken away to disclose the arrangement of a connecting dowel pin.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation thereof, showing a plurality of bottles held in the carrier.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the bottle carrier comprises the two side members I and I2 which are preferably separated from each other by the intermediate member I4.

Each side member I0 and I2 has arranged therein a plurality of semi-circular recesses |6 and I8 extending inwardly from the inner edges 20 and 22 of each side member and the intermediate member I4 is provided with a plurality of semi-circular recesses 24 and 26 extending inwardly from each of the edges 28 and 30 thereof and each corresponding to an aligned'adjacent ropes, each suitably secured to the intermediate member and looped through the holes in the 51de members to form connected or unconnected han-k pull or force'the side members together upon lifting the handle portion embodied in the rope means. l

I prefer to provide the dowel pins 12 and 14, each secured to a side member I0 and I2 as by a press nt, toward each end 11 and 19 of the carrier.

An end of each dowel pin 12 and 14 is inserted A in a corresponding opening 18 and 18 extending recess I 6 and I8 on the side members I0 and I2.

As will be hereinafter described, upon bringing the two side members toward each other against the intermediate member, each recess I6 and 24and each recess I 8 and 26 serve to form acircular opening for receiving the top of a bottle held by my carrier in the pocket formedthereby.

' VThe side VYand Vintermediate members may be made of 4any material suitable for the purposes, such as a light wood or plastic.

Connecting the side members Ytogether for the purposes and in the manner which I will further describe in detail, I provide means 32, preferably made of a flexible material, such as the rope, cord or string.' Y f As illustrated, I preferably use a continuousV rope 32 which, as will be described, is operatively Vthreaded through the 'side members, one end 34 of the rope 32 and the other end 36 thereof being secured to the underside Y31 of the intermediate member I4, as by staples 38 and 40.

The'connecting means 32 passes from the end 34V thereof throughthe opening 42,'provided inV the side member I0, to be disposed thereabove to form a handle connecting portion 44 of the rope.

The connecting means continues thence to the opening 46 to pass therethrough again to the underside of the carrier and constitutes above the-carrier the other handle Vconnecting portion 48 with an intermediate handle portion 50.

From the opening 46, the connecting means passes thence along Vthe underside of the carrier through the opening 50 in the side member I2 to another'handle connecting portion 52 arranged above the carrier. Y

The portion 54 between the openings 46 Yand 50 at the underside of the carrier is likewise preferably secured to Vthe Yunderside 31 of the intermediate member I 4, as by a staple 56.

v vThe handle portion 58 intermediate the handleV connecting portions 52 and 60 is preferably secured'to the other handle portion 50 as by means of the clips 62 and 64.

The portions 50 and 58 of the connecting meansY rope like connecting means 32.

The openings through which the connecting means 32 are threaded are uniformly spaced yabout the carrier so that the weight of the carrier will be evenly distributed about the centre of gravity.

It will, also, be understood that two separate from each side 28 and 30 of the intermediate member I4 and loosely nts therein.

It will become apparent that the dowel pins and recesses serve to guide operative movement of the side members toward each other and the intermediate member under the influence of the connecting means 32.V upon thereby. Y

In operation, the bottle carrier is placed over the tops of the bottles 82 so that each annular pocket 84 formed by corresponding semi-circular recesses receives therein the neck 86 of a bottle.

To accomplish this operation, the side membersj I 0 and I 2 are manually pulled away from eachV other and the intermediate member I4 to Yassume` a position, such'as illustrated in Fig. 3, the con-- tinuous connecting means 32 being pulled taut to limit the separating movement of the sideV members. Y

In this position, thepockets 84 are widened so that the bottle carrier will readily flt over and' receive the necks 86 of the bottles.

Upon lifting the carrier, the handle portion 66 is grasped and pulled upwardly in the direction of the arrow 68. y

Since the ends 34 and 36 andthe portion 54l are secured to the intermediate member I4, that ,r member will remain stationary withrespect to` the side members I0 and I2.y

The handle portion therefore pulls the portions 44 and 48 in the direction of' the arrows 90 and 02 and the portions 52 and 60 Ain the direction of the arrows 94 34 and 36 at the underside pulled in the direction of |00, with the portion 54 the direction of the arrows |02 and |04.

and 96, the portions of the carrier being the arrows 98 and It will at once become apparent that the connecting means 32 will thereupon force or pull the member I0 toward the intermediate member I4 in the direction of the arrow |06 and con- Currently the end member I2 toward the inter-ff mediate member I4 in the direction of the arrow |08 to grip the bottle necks therebetween, the dowel pins serving to guide the movement of the side members toward eachother and the intermediate member, and'to prevent canting thereof with respect thereto.

The necks 86 of bottles of this kind are cust tomarily provided with an annular collar IIO, of whlch my bottle carrier is designed to take 'ad. vantage.

Extending inwardly along the wall II 2 and I I4 of each recess I6 and I8 provided in the side members I0 and I2 about the periphery thereof, I provide the groove I I6 and II8, each of which is designed to receivejthe collar IIO of a bottle 82 lying in the corresponding pocket Y|14.

Vlifting the carrier beingV under tension in In order to enablev the bottlenecks to be more readily' received vin the pockets 84; I preferably provide the grooves -I'IIE and I I8?v solely in the wall of a semi-circular recess irl-each side memb'er I llfand |12.Y

By reason of thi'sconstruction, the collar will more readily find itself in the corresponding groove and thememberswill also l more readily be rigidly clamped together.

Inl order to provide an upper substantially platform like surface IIB, I preferably countersink the pockets 84 in the carrier to form the upper shoulders |20 against which the bottle tops 80 are held.

This also enables the grooves II6 and II8 to be positioned at the proper distances therebelow to correspond to the position of the collar I I8 on the neck 86 of the bottle 82 for which my carrier is designed.

In order to provide a ready means for ascertaining whether a bottle has been received in any pocket 84, I preferably provide in the upper face of each member, which together constitute the upper surface II9 of the carrier, semi-circular openings which together constitute the circular opening I I2, when the members are brought together.

It will be understood that the intermediate member I4 may be eliminated to provide a carrier which is comprised of only the side members which are Aconnected together by similar rope like means so that, upon lifting the carrier, the side members will be likewise moved toward each other to grasp and securely hold the neck of a bottle positionedtherebetween.

It will be further understood, that a portion of the rope like connecting means 32 may itself serve as one of the side members I or I2 so that, upon lifting my carrier, that portion of the connecting means will be tightly held across the side of a recess I6 or I8 to clamp a bottle arranged therein and securely hold it therein against the one side member, an example of Which is illustrated in Figs. 8 to 10.

While I have described in specific detail certain embodiments of my invention, I do not intend to be limited thereto but intend to claim the invention as broadly as the following claims and the state of the prior art will permit, since further modifications will now readily occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A portable article carrier comprising a pair of side members, a central member and rope like means for loosely connecting the said members together, said connecting means constituting a handle disposed on the exterior of the carrier above the central member and loosely threaded through the members in engagement therewith to pull the said members together for carrying articles upon lifting the carrier by the handle.

2. A portable carrier for an article, said carrier comprising a pair of side members and a central member, each having an aligned recess on an edge thereof, said recesses together constituting vise like jaws for gripping the article therebetween and means for separably connecting the members together, said connecting means, on the exterior of the carrier, constituting a handle and arranged in engagement with the said side members to force the side members together against the central member for carrying articles upon lifting the carrier by means of the handle.

3. A carrier for an article, said carrier Vincluding'a. pair` ot separable members and; a central..` memberA for gripping an article between the centralmember-r and aI separate member to hold the article in the carrier. and means for loosely connecting the members together, said connecting means constituting, above the carrier, a handle portion and extending into-connecting portions each engaginga separable member to pull thememberstogether to grip an article therebetween, upon lifting the carrier by means of the handle.

4. 'Ihe carrier of claim 2, said recesses being countersunk in the members.

5. An article carrier comprising a pair of side members, an intermediate member and means for connecting the said members together, said connecting means constituting a handle portion on the exterior of the carrier and threaded throughthe side members to form loop portions thereabout connected to the intermediate member and the handle portion to bring the members together by means of the movement of the handle.

6. 'Ihe article carrier of claim 5, each side member having a recess extending therein from an inner edge thereof, said intermediate member on each edge thereof adjacent a side member having a recess aligned with the recess on the adjacent side member to form therewith upon bringing the members together, a pocket for receiving therein an article.

'7. The article carrier of claim 5, each side member having a countersunk recess extending therein from an inner edge thereof, said intermediate member on each edge thereof adjacent a side member having a countersunk recess aligned with the recess on the adjacent side member to form therewith, upon bringing the members together, a countersunk pocket for receiving therein an article.

8. The article carrier of claim 5, each side member having a recess extending therein from an inner edge thereof, said intermediate member on each edge thereof adjacent a,` side member having a recess aligned with the recess on the adjacent side member to form therewith, upon bringing the members together, a pocket for receiving therein an article, the walls of the recesses on the side members or on the intermediate member being provided with a groove.

9. A bottle carrier comprising a body block, a pair of additional blocks at opposite sides of said body block and movably held thereto, cooperative openings in said body block and said additional blocks adapted to surround the neck of a bottle therebetween, said openings passing only part of the distance through said body block and saidV additional blocks, and means for holding said additional blocks against said body block to grip said bottles.

10. A bottle carrier comprising a body block, a pair of additional blocks at opposite sides of said body block and movably held thereto, cooperative openings in said body' block and said additional blocks adapted to surround the neck of a bottle therebetween, the distance between adjacent openings being suiciently great to space said bottles apart to prevent contact therebetween, and means for holding said additional blocks against said body block to grip said bottles.

11. A bottle carrier comprising a body block, a pair of additional blocks at opposite sides of said body block and movably held thereto, cooperative openings in said body block and said addition-a1 blocks, each of said openings being semicircular in cross section, the corresponding openings of body block and said additional blocks when in contact providing cylindrical openings which areradapted to surround the neck of a bottletherebetween, and means for holding said additional blocks against said body block to grip said bottles. f

12. A bottle carrier comprising a body block,

a pair of additionalblocks at opposite sides of l0 said body block and movably held thereto, coop- 

